One spark can start an almighty fire in the fickle world of celebrity, as Blake Lively is finding out to her peril this week.

The Hollywood superstar, 36, who shot to fame as Serena van der Woodsen in Gossip Girl, is facing a growing backlash against apparently diva-style behaviour caught on camera, as more and more toe-curling interviews surface from the internet’s archives.

Lively, who shares children James, Inez, Betty and Olin, with fellow A-lister Ryan Reynolds, first began to see her status as one half of Hollywood’s couple tarnish during her current press tour promoting her latest film, It Ends with Us.

While there’s been plenty of wholesome moments during the star’s recent press whirl – tearing up at meeting Spice Girl Emma Bunton at Heart FM, and thanking Capital FM DJ Kemi Rodgers after she surprised her with a message from Reynolds, there have also been moments that have likely given the film’s PRs sleepless nights.

It Ends with Us, based on the book by Colleen Hoover, follows the story of Lily Bloom, played by Lively, who becomes embroiled in an abusive relationship with a man named Ryle Kincaid, portrayed by Justin Baldoni.

Lively, 36, who shot to fame as Serena van der Woodsen in Gossip Girl, has come under fire in recent weeks following a series of ‘hard to watch’ interviews, many of which emerged following a ‘tone deaf’ Q&A to promote her new film It Ends with Us, which is centred on a relationship marred by domestic abuse

Negativity surrounding the press tour for her latest film, sparked by what fans felt was a ‘light hearted’ Q&A alongside the book’s author Colleen Hoover and  co-stars Jenny Slate and Isabela Ferrer, has snowballed, with ‘awkward’ past interviews emerging

During the Q&A, the four women, Lively, Colleen Hoover and co-stars Jenny Slate and Isabela Ferrer, giggled together as they discussed everything from their dream jobs to their zodiac signs – but there was no mention of their film’s domestic violence theme

However the serious subject matter seemed to be the last thing on the minds of Lively and fellow cast members Jenny Slate and Isabela Ferrer, as they sat down for a Q&A with author Hoover to discuss the film in early August.

Those watching accused the quartet of appearing ‘light-hearted’; the four women giggled together as they discussed everything from their dream jobs to their zodiac signs, but there was no mention of domestic violence during their chat.

Social media users were quick to slam them – particularly Lively, who hosted the interview – for partaking in the breezy questionnaire given the serious nature of the film, and for failing to speak about the topic.

As the backlash began, several hours later Blake, who got her first film break in Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants in 2005, took to Instagram to share information about domestic violence, as well as some resources for her followers.

She directed her followers to a series of links, which included a phone hotline for victims of domestic violence, as well as statistics and other information.

‘Everyone deserves relationships free of domestic violence,’ she wrote.

Branded ‘tone-deaf’, Lively has since faced intense scrutiny, with interviews continuing to surface showing behaviour that has been branded ‘mean’ by some who’ve seen it.

It’s not the first time Blake has come under fire, with the actress having made a string of controversial decisions throughout her career.  

Here, FEMAIL reveals Blake’s past dramas, from getting married at a former plantation site to an insensitive Kate Middleton jibe.

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Lively appeared to address the criticism Tuesday by publishing a lengthy statement to Instagram

In a follow-up post on her Instagram Story, Lively shared statistics relating to domestic violence in the United States and provided fans with a link to the National Domestic Violence Hotline

Jenny then revealed that she was terrified of horses, explaining that their hooves and ‘butts’ made her uncomfortable.

Everyone erupted in laughter as she added, ‘Their butts are shiny, it kills me. Ponytail out of the butt, it’s crazy.’

After that, Blake asked each of them to share their zodiac signs so they could figure out ‘how compatible they are’ with one another.

Next, she asked, ‘What would be a good addition to the human body?’ ‘I would like another arm. Three hands working the keyboard? Wow,’ Colleen answered, while Jenna pondered that she’d love some wings.

‘We didn’t talk about our movie at all. Thanks for joining us,’ Blake concluded. ‘I think that will sell the film,’ Jenny added with a laugh.

Blake shared a video of the interview to her Instagram account last week, which she captioned with, ‘Becoming friends with [Jenny Slate] and all of these women [Colleen Hoover and Isabela Ferrer] is the best thing to come out of [It Ends With Us] for me.

‘And that’s saying A LOT because I couldn’t be more proud of this film. I’m gonna be sad when marketing is over and I don’t have excuses to sit on my couch dressed up with you ladies.’

Immediately, outraged viewers flocked to the comment section to criticize them.

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Immediately, outraged viewers flocked to the comment section to criticize them

‘I’m very confused. You missed the entire purpose of the movie. I’m sad and disappointed,’ one person wrote. ‘This is a movie about abuse, can you promote please appropriately?’ another asked.

Someone else added, ‘Blake is only here for the fashion and that’s all. She ain’t interested in the message this movie brings. Shallow.’

‘As someone who has read the book, as someone who liked Blake, and as a DV survivor… to say that this is so disappointing would be an understatement,’ a fourth comment read.

A fifth said, ‘This is the most tone deaf thing I’ve ever seen. This movie is about domestic violence, why are you promoting it like it’s a Barbie movie?’

‘When are you gonna talk about domestic violence? Trying to play this movie off as a fun romcom is wrong and disgusting,’ a different user scathed.

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‘We don’t wanna hear about shows and your new hair care routine we wanna hear about the victims and how prevalent domestic violence remains in society. You have been given a platform, use it.’

‘The way you’ve chosen to market this movie is a real shame and feels like an insult to DV survivors,’ someone else said. ‘Really disappointed and hard to believe the author would support it.’

‘Very disappointed in the way you are promoting this movie. I loved you as an actress but won’t be watching any of your movies anymore,’ another person declared.

‘You are being tone deaf about domestic violence. This could of been a huge opportunity to bring awareness to DV and you choose to blatantly ignore it.’

‘As a well meaning fan: this Girl Talk session reinforced multiple stereotypes about women, and doesn’t address the single most important theme in your film: domestic abuse,’ a different angry viewer wrote.

‘You can use this moment for a felonies reckoning, to make some difference in countless lives, to encourage and support women to speak up.

‘But you’re focusing on flowers and hair-care and outfits. Women are more than this, we deserved better from you.’

Others said they were ‘team Justin,’ referencing an alleged feud between Blake and her co-star in the film.

ANOTHER  AWKWARD INTERVIEW – THIS TIME FROM 2017 – RESURFACES

Clips of Lively seemingly getting ‘triggered’ by a reporter’s questions during an October 2017 interview with DP/30 have been making the rounds on TikTok.

At the time, she was promoting her thriller film All I See Is You — a role that was a clear diversion from her Gossip Girl legacy.

Things between Lively and the interviewer seemed to get tense when he asked her to share what types of roles she hopes to take on ‘in the next five years.’

‘Do you feel free to try everything?’ the reporter asked.

Lively looked taken aback by the question and, after appearing to roll her eyes, replied: ‘What does that mean?’

Stumbling over his words, the reporter clarified that he was asking if she would be willing to step out of her comfort zone by doing something new onscreen.

‘I mean, apparently, you’re not gonna sing if you [don’t] think you could sing,’ he quipped.

Lively quickly reminded the reporter that she ‘does sing’ in All I See Is You.

Looking disappointed, she then sarcastically asked the reporter he ‘saw the movie’ before agreeing to interview her.

‘I did see the movie,’ he insisted.

Lively then shot a look to someone offscreen before smirking and telling the reporter: ‘We’re gonna give you a pop quiz at the end [of this interview].’

‘There can be a pop quiz of every minute of it,’ he replied with a nervous laugh.

In another part of the nearly 40-minute interview, Lively can seen exhibiting closed off body language as she sits with her arms crossed while speaking at length about being a ‘shy person.’

‘RIFT’ WITH IT ENDS WITH US DIRECTOR

Rumours of tensions brewing between Justin, 40 – who on top of starring in it also directed and served as one of the producers for It Ends With Us – and the blonde beauty have been swirling for weeks after fans noticed the two failed to do any press together leading up to the film’s release.

In addition, the on-screen love interests were not pictured together at the US premiere last week.

Eagle-eyed social media users also noticed that both Blake and author Colleen unfollowed Justin on Instagram recently.

To make matters more suspicious, actress Jenny completely dodged a question about Justin on the red carpet at the event.

‘What was it like having [Justin] be director but also a scene partner?’ a Deadline reporter asked the star.

‘I mean what an intense job to have to do so many things,’ she replied. ‘I found myself being like, “Wow, I just want to have one job at once.”

‘I’ve often felt that way, I really like writing and it’s special to be able to be a writer but I was looking around like, “Yeah I’m good with just acting.” I love it.’

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Eagle-eyed social media users also noticed that both Blake and author Colleen unfollowed Justin on Instagram

 recently that Blake and Justin clashed over his ‘dismissive’ attitude to her ‘input’ while they were filming scenes that involved abuse.

The insider claimed that Justin only focused on ‘what he believed was the abusive male viewpoint’ and had a very ‘chauvinistic’ approach to the topic.

‘During scenes depicting abuse, Justin failed to consider Blake’s character’s perspective, instead focusing solely on what he believed was the abusive male viewpoint,’ they said.

‘His approach was very chauvinistic, creating a tense atmosphere on set.’

‘Directing a film so serious and so important about domestic abuse without allowing the women to be included in this process is disturbing.’

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Rumors of tensions brewing between Justin Baldoni – who on top of starring in it also directed and served as one of the producers for the film – and Lively have been swirling for weeks after fans noticed the two failed to do any press together leading up to the film’s release; seen on August 6

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A source told DailyMail.com recently that Blake and Justin allegedly clashed over his ‘dismissive’ attitude to her ‘input’ while they were filming scenes that involved abuse

While making the movie, Justin teamed up with nonprofit organization No More, which ‘focuses on combating domestic and sexual violence.’

‘Justin really wanted to know more of the details about intimate partner violence and wanted to make sure that he was representing it as accurately and sensitively as possible,’ a No More executive told The Wrap.

‘We didn’t want [the scenes depicting abuse] to be too difficult necessarily for an audience to see, but we also wanted them to be clear of what was going on.’

He spoke about the difficulties of portraying a domestic violence relationship on screen with CBS Mornings last week.

He admitted that ‘as a man,’ he came with ‘his own biases’ on the topic, but insisted he ‘made sure the film had a female gaze’.

‘As a man, I’m always going to come with my own biases. It’s one of the reasons I was afraid to direct this movie, let alone act in it,’ he said.

‘I wanted to make sure this film always had a female gaze and I was never putting myself into it.’

Justin has now reportedly hired a crisis public relations firm to represent him following reports of major ‘creative differences’ and conflict between him and his It Ends With Us co-star.

The director is turning to the well-regarded PR crisis manager Melissa Nathan for help, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Nathan is best known for representing Johnny Depp during his defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard.

The actor addressed the on-set ‘friction’ between himself and Lively in an interview with ELLE UK on Tuesday.

He described how tension during production can lead to ‘beautiful art’ as he promoted the new movie.

The Jane The Virgin actor opened up about the challenges of the dual roles when he described how strain can benefit a film.

‘It’s very challenging to act and direct, and especially with a project like this,’ he explained. ‘There was a lot of pressure playing such a complex role like Ryle and, of course, as a filmmaker, you’re always navigating personalities.

‘There are all these things that happen every day on set, there’s always friction that happens when you make a movie like this. Then at the end of the day, it’s that friction, I believe, that creates the beautiful art.

‘Everything in life needs friction to grow. And look, we created something so beautiful and so magical, and it was hard, and it was worth it at the same time. And I grew so much as both a filmmaker, an actor and as a person throughout this experience.’

Baldoni did speak positively about Lively, calling her a ‘creative powerhouse’ and comparing her acting prowess to elite sports car Ferrari.

People reported claims on Monday that the core cast and author Hoover ‘will have nothing to do with’ Baldoni.

‘There is much more to this story,’ a source told the outlet. ‘The principal cast and Colleen Hoover will have nothing to do with him.’

While the director had ‘creative differences’ with some of his collaborators on the motion picture, reports of tension while making the film had been ‘overblown,’ a source close to Baldoni told People.

The source added that Lively ‘wants to direct the next movie, side-lining him and securing the rights from Colleen.’

REPORTER REVEALS ‘UNCOMFORTABLE’ INTERVIEW 

A reporter has claimed interviewing Blake Lively made her want to ‘quit her job’ amid the ongoing It Ends With Us drama, branding their chat as the ‘most uncomfortable situation she had ever experienced’.

Blake has been embroiled in controversy recently as rumors of an ongoing feud between her and her costar, Justin Baldoni, continue to make headlines.

Amid the drama, award-winning journalist Kjersti Flaa has slammed the Gossip Girl alum, saying she considered leaving the industry after an interview with Blake in 2016 went awry.

She uploaded a clip of the awkward encounter to her YouTube channel titled: ‘The Blake Lively interview that made me want to quit my job.’

Blake and fellow actress Parker Posey had sat down with Kjersti, 51, who is originally from Norway but now lives in California, back in 2016 to discuss their film Cafe Society.

But when Kjersti congratulated the actress, who was expecting her second child with husband Ryan Reynolds at the time, on her pregnancy, things immediately turned tense. Blake seemed completely unamused with the comment, and replied with a sarcastic quip.

‘First of all, congrats on your little bump,’ Kjersti, who is the founder of Content Now TV, gushed.

‘Congrats on your little bump,’ Blake fired back, as the interviewer giggled nervously.

‘What about my bump?’ Parker joined in, standing up to show her butt to the camera.

Kjersti, who appeared thrown off by Blake’s response, then sat their awkwardly as the two ladies joked about their various ‘bumps’ together.

And things only got worse when Kjersti asked the women her first question.

Since the movie took place in the 1930s, Kjersti wondered if they enjoyed wearing old-school clothes in the movie.

But Blake didn’t like the query, and as Parker started to answer, she interjected, ‘Everyone wants to talk about the clothes but I wonder if they would ask the men about the clothes.’

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Now, award winning journalist Kjersti Flaa has slammed the Gossip Girl alum, claiming that she considered leaving the industry after an interview with Blake in 2016 went awry

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Blake and fellow actress, Parker Posey, had sat down with Kjersti, 51, who is originally from Norway but now lives in California, back in 2016 to discuss their then-new film Cafe Society

‘I would,’ Kjersti promised.

Again, the ladies started talking to one another rather than to Kjersti, as they discussed some of their favorite outfits worn by men in the movie.

The uncomfortable interview went on for another few minutes, before a defeated Kjersti wrapped it up.

‘Sitting down with Blake Lively and her co star Parker Posey for Cafe Society is the most uncomfortable interview situation I have ever experienced,’ she wrote in the caption.

‘Is it not OK to congratulate someone on their pregnancy or to ask another woman about costumes she is wearing in a film?’

The resurfaced interview quickly went viral, and it sparked fierce backlash against Blake.

People flocked to the comment section to slam her, with one person branding the star as ‘rude’ and another calling her behavior ‘weird and uncalled for.’

‘She and her husband talk about their kids all the time and you can’t congratulate her on her pregnancy?’ one person wrote.

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‘First of all, congrats on your little bump,’ gushed Kjersti. ‘Congrats on your little bump,’ Blake fired back sarcastically, as the interviewer giggled nervously

People quickly flocked to the comment section of the video to slam Blake, with one person branding the star as ‘rude’ and another calling her behavior ‘weird and uncalled for’

‘That was such weird and uncalled for behavior, I’m sorry you had to sit through that. You kept your composure so well.’

‘The way she replied, ‘Congrats on your little bump.’ Yikes how rude,’ someone else agreed.

Another user added, ‘What in the f**k was this? Yeah don’t quit your job, but they should definitely quit theirs if they get triggered that badly by questions they don’t like. Ridiculous behavior.’

‘Wow, this is disappointing to watch. I’m very turned off by Blake and Parker’s behavior,’ a fourth comment read.

‘It lacked tact and both, but more so Blake, were just extremely rude and lacked any class here.

‘Shame on her. You did excellent keeping it together. The only true lady in that room.’

‘Asking about wardrobe for a period piece movie is a normal question. I’m so sorry they treated you this way,’ a fifth said.